Commendations & Commencements

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Winter 2012

Congratulations

Robin Nwankwo, an NIDDK Advisory Council member and a diabetes
educator and researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor,
received the American Diabetes Association’s Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award
for her educational efforts in the field of diabetes and significant contributions
to the understanding of diabetes education.

Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, distinguished service professor of
surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a longtime NIDDK
grantee, received the 2012 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award – shared
with Dr. Roy Calne, University of Cambridge emeritus – for his work developing liver
transplantation. (See the News
Around NIDDK section for more.)

Editor’s note: NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers was
elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Class of 2012. The AAAS is
one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center
for independent policy research. Its current membership includes more than 200 Nobel
laureates and more than 100 Pulitzer Prize winners. Rodgers was inducted into AAAS
on Oct. 6.

Welcome

Dr. Robert Best joined the NIDDK intramural Laboratory of
Chemical Physics (LCP) as a tenure-track investigator, beginning in October. He
was previously a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry
at the University of Cambridge, where his research used molecular simulations to
investigate protein folding and to interpret single-molecule optical tweezer and
FRET experiments. He had earlier served as an LCP research fellow under Dr. William
Eaton and Dr. Gerhard Hummer.

Dr. Jill P. Smith joined the NIDDK Division of Digestive
Diseases and Nutrition as senior scientific advisor for Clinical and Translational
Research in Digestive Diseases in September. She was previously a full professor
at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in gastroenterology and
hepatology and also in cellular and molecular physiology. Her areas of expertise
include pancreatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and hepatitis.

A Fond Farewell

Dr. David Davies, a senior investigator in
the intramural Laboratory of Molecular Biology, is retiring from NIDDK after 51
years of service to the institute and 57 years of federal service. He is a pioneer
in the field of structural biology. Davies’ work has enhanced understanding of disease
and identified targets for therapy by uncovering the molecular details of protein
and nucleic acid interactions needed for the process that cells undergo. Davies
will continue his research as an NIDDK scientist emeritus. (Editor’s note: Learn
more about Dr. Davies in the Summer 2012 issue
of the NIDDK Director’s Update.)

Dr. Enrico Cabib, a senior investigator in
the intramural Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, is retiring from NIDDK after
45 years of service to the institute and several more years at other research posts.
He is widely known for his work on the yeast cell wall, work which helps in developing
drugs for patients with suppressed immune systems. Cabib will be nominated for NIDDK
scientist emeritus. (Editor’s note: Learn more about Dr. Cabib in the News Around NIDDK
section of this issue.)

Four members of the NIDDK Advisory Council have completed their four-year service:

LaVarne Burton served on the NIDDK Kidney, Urologic, and
Hematologic Diseases Subcouncil. Burton is president and chief executive officer
of the American Kidney Fund, which educates patients and the public about the impact
and importance of kidney disease.

Dr. Robert Flanigan served on the NIDDK Kidney, Urologic,
and Hematologic Diseases Subcouncil. He serves as the department chairperson and
a professor of urology at Loyola University and is a practicing physician active
in multiple community health education and outreach activities.

Dr. John Sedor served on the NIDDK Urologic, and Hematologic
Diseases Subcouncil. He is a professor of medicine and physiology at Case Western
Reserve University (CWRU) and serves as the vice president for research on the MetroHealth
System Campus at CWRU. He also serves as an advisor to a number of large NIDDK studies,
including the Diabetic Complications Consortium and the Family Investigation of
Nephropathy of Diabetes Consortium.

Dr. Christopher Glass served on the NIDDK Diabetes, Endocrinology,
and Metabolic Diseases Subcouncil. He is a professor in the Department of Cellular
& Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and his research
investigates transcriptional mechanisms that regulate the development and function
of the macrophage, a cell that plays key roles in immunity and inflammatory diseases.

In Memoriam

NIDDK grantee Dr. John Stokes died. He had held several
roles at the University of Iowa Health Care, including professor, executive vice-chair
for the Department of Internal Medicine, and director of the Division of Nephrology.
Dr. Stokes also led in coordinating many seminal NIH-sponsored clinical trials in
nephrology, including the Hemodialysis trial, the acute renal failure trial, the
Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study and the Frequent Hemodialysis Clinical
Trials.

Dr. Yuan-Who (Richard) Chen died on October 1, 2012. He joined
the biostatistics group in the NIDDK Office of the Director in April 2009. Prior
to joining NIDDK, Dr. Chen received his doctorate in biometry from the University
of Texas Health Sciences Center and worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
for eight years. At NIDDK he provided biostatistical support to both the extramural
and intramural programs and worked on several publications with intramural investigators.
He has been described as a valued colleague, a wonderful collaborator, helpful,
warm, and considerate.